At the quarter mark of the season, Dallas Cowboys’ new defense hasn’t trumped the old version under former coordinator Rob Ryan

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan yells at his squad after one of theme got a holding call on third down in the fourth quarter giving the Atlanta Falcons a first down at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Sunday, November 4, 2012. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)

IRVING – Former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan always seemed to know where his unit ranked in the NFL.

Through four games, Ryan has to like his positioning this season. He has the New Orleans Saints’ defense ranked sixth in the NFL (allowing 304.5 yards a game). And you know Ryan has to smile when he sees the Cowboys’ defense ranked 20th in the league.

The Cowboys fired Ryan in January and replaced him with Monte Kiffin, who brought his Tampa 2 scheme with him in switching Dallas from a 3-4 to 4-3 base defense.

At the quarter mark of the season, Kiffin’s defense doesn’t stack up so well to the Cowboys’ first four games of last season under Ryan.

And that’s before Denver and quarterback Peyton Manning hit town Sunday.

The Cowboys have improved in three categories: run defense, pressuring the quarterback and forcing turnovers. They have forced eight turnovers, twice as many as they had through the first four games of last year. They have five more sacks through four games than they did at this point last year and have allowed an average of 30.2 fewer rushing yards.

But Kiffin’s Tampa 2 was supposed to cut down on the big plays allowed in Ryan’s more aggressive scheme. That hasn’t happened. The Cowboys have allowed 16 plays of 20-plus yards this season, three more than they allowed last season through four games.

Perhaps even more alarming: The Cowboys’ defense is allowing 117.2 passing yards more per game and 4.5 points more a game this season than they gave up through the first four games of 2012.

Editor Picks

Comments

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.